In a horrifying incident in Bihar’s Gopalganj, a priest (Pujari) of a Shiv Temple, who had been missing for the last five days, has been brutally murdered. The deceased victim has been identified as Manoj Kumar Sah. The matter pertains to Danapur village in the Manjhagarh police station area. The mutilated body of the victim, with his eyes gouged out, and tongue and genitals chopped off, was recovered in the bushes near a dairy shop on Saturday (December 16). The 32-year-old victim was also shot with a bullet near the neck.
Reports say that the victim’s brother Ashok Kumar Sah has been a village head, and is a local Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader (Mandal President). Ashok said that his brother went missing five days ago and that they had filed a missing persons complaint as well on December 11, however, the police did not take any concrete action despite giving assurance that they will find Manoj within hours. The victim’s family had raised suspicion that Manoj might have been abducted.
After the victim’s mutilated body was found, the infuriated villagers staged a protest accusing the police of inaction in the matter. The protestors even blocked National Highway 27. Subsequently, Sadar SDPO Pranjal arrived at the protest site and tried to pacify the agitated locals. Meanwhile, heavy police force was called in to control the situation. The police have said that an FIR has been registered in the killing of the temple priest and an investigation into the matter is underway.
Notably, the police have not made any arrests so far and the motive behind the brutal murder also remains undisclosed. However, the victim’s brother Ashok has said that attempts were being made by some people to grab the temple’s land. He added that whenever any program or event was organised at the temple, the people belonging to another community raised objections. Moreover, Ashok said that his brother, who had been taking care of the temple for the last five years, was quite disturbed as some land bought for the temple was grabbed by the accused who used it for farming. He added that his brother was also getting death threats for some time.
माझागढ़ थाना अंतर्गत मनोज कुमार साह की मृत्यु से संबंधित अपडेट@bihar_police @BiharHomeDept @DigSaran @swarnprabhat516 #HainTaiyaarHum pic.twitter.com/3iNcdl1wb2
— Gopalganj Police (@GopalganjPolice) December 16, 2023
According to the CCTV footage recovered from the cameras installed in the Temple, the victim was last seen stepping out of the temple after locking the room at around 12:40 AM on December 10. Three youths, including Manoj, used to reside in the temple. Meanwhile, Gopalganj Police said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the matter.
The brutal murder of the Hindu priest has sparked outrage in the victim’s village as well as on social media. Taking to X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Manoj’s horrific murder an “ISIS style killing” saying that “jungle raj” prevails in Bihar now.
नीतीश राज नहीं जंगल राज
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) December 17, 2023
बिहार के गोपालगंज में पुजारी की isis स्टाइल हत्या
Bihar now has Jungle Raj not Nitish Raj
ISIS style killing of Pujari in Gopalganj
Shot dead, eyes gouged out, private parts damaged
Who is safe in Bihar? Neither Sadhus. Neither cops and nor is the… pic.twitter.com/wVSvDvhi3K
“Bihar now has Jungle Raj not Nitish Raj. ISIS style killing of Pujari in Gopalganj. Shot dead, eyes gouged out, private parts damaged. Who is safe in Bihar? Neither Sadhus. Neither cops and nor is the common man,” Poonawalla posted.
